BUILDING SOCIETY PROGRESS.
After a year in which Stock Exchange securities have largely belied their early promise, it is natural that a section of investors should be seeking a haven for their savings in which they will be exempt from market fluctuations. One of the main outlets for investment of that type is in the building society move- ment. The accounts of the leading building societies this year are therefore of special interest. Do they show any signs that the demand for loans for house purchase is drying up ? Or that the borrowers on mortgage are failing to pay regularly ? The answer to both these questions is entirely reassuring, as two examples this week demonstrate.
The National Building Society, which is one of the very big societies, now has total assets of £33,016,310 and members' share capital amounts to £29,346,527. The chairman, Mr. W. F. Foster, announced at the meeting that the mortgage assets, amounting to £30,131,602, were the largest in the society's 88 years of life. Reserve funds, he said, were increased last year by £271,469 to the total of £1,849,274. In pursuance of a policy of expansion, he announced the Board's intention to increase the number of local offices as opportunities occur.
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